Sports

Stults shuts down Nationals for fourth win; Tulo doubles among four hits; Andrus goes 5-for-5. The Rundown:

It’s Saturday night, and I am sitting in front of my iMac, realizing I’m due back in the shop in less than nine hours. I just got in about thirty minutes ago. The days, they fly by. Today was one of Craig’s biggest days of the year, the annual Craig Caddis Fest, a fundraiser for the local fire department. They talk of Craig being a fly fishing town. I guess when the big event of the year is named after a bug highly sought after by trout (and therefore fishermen), the rumors are true. Festivities kicked off around 2:00 this afternoon, and the band was still rolling when I pulled out of town. There was a parade, complete with several drift boats, and a beaten up old tractor with two gentlemen who looked like they had emerged from the deep South. Or maybe just Wolf Creek. The bar-be-que cook-off proved to be one oft he more popular features of Caddis Fest, and both the Simms crew and our own Headhunters team parked in front of the shop. Mark’s tri-tip sliders were a hit, as was evidenced by the large line outside building for the evening. In all fairness, the Simms guys made a pretty mean fajita as well. And, miracle of miracles, and espresso truck rolled into town just for the event. Complete with a folk singer on the top of the trailer. What the hell, it’s Craig. I met Uncle Joe of Joe’s bar today, and he joined the parade, riding in a classy old, yellow rig and tossing out candy to eager kids (and some adults). The urchins of the Missouri were out in full swing, moving amidst the rapidly-becoming-soused adults with ease. On the business end of things, parking shuttle rigs was rather like a twisted game in Craig today. The parking at the ramp fills rapidly these days, leaving us to stick shuttle rigs wherever we can – along the railroad tracks to scattered throughout town. Between dodging toddlers in the streets, other boats on the road and the herd of dogs that seems to inhabit the town, it was an entertaining shuttle day. Waders and full fishing kit will not earn you a second glance in this crowd, but a tie or a suit coat will draw stares. When a rain shower moved through, savvy locals donned their waders and rain jackets and kept on cooking. And drinking. And fishing. You know the routine. Tags: Dispatches from Craig

Ryan Villopoto opened the outdoor season at Hangtown with the same sort of authority that defined his dominating Supercross title campaign.

Jimmie Johnson is now the only four-time winner of the Sprint All-Star Race…

Our countdown training plan will help keep you focused during the two weeks leading up to your big day. The off road marathon that takes competitors to the summit of Ben Nevis Long-distance racing has grown in popularity over the last couple of years and events sell out quicker than tickets for Take That concerts. It’s no surprise then, that new long-distance events are being added to the triathlon calendar every year to cater for the rising demand. Rat Race City To Summit is this year’s hottest new addition and is being billed as the toughest long-distance event in the UK – after all, it’s not every day you’re asked to run up a mountain during a marathon when you’ve just completed a 112-mile bike ride and a 2.4-mile swim. With just two weeks to go until the monster event, its important that you take your foot off the gas and rest your body so that your performance peaks at the right time – on race day. There’s certainly no point bashing out another 20-mile run or a 100-mile bike ride since it will make no difference to your fitness and will just fatigue your already-tired muscles. Less is more at this stage and so you need to cut down the hours and just do a few high-intensity workouts. These will help remind your body what it has to do on race day, as well as burning off some of your nervous energy. Click the link below to download our 2-week countdown plan to your computer to help you with your planning: Rat Race City To Summit Countdown Training Plan   Aside from training, there are lots of other things that you need to do during these two weeks. Here are our top 5 tips:   Get plenty of sleep – you’re going to need every ounce of energy to power you to the summit of Ben Nevis. Keep eating healthy – don’t fall off the bandwagon just because the volume of your training has dipped and indulge in nutrient-poor foods such as chocolate and pizza. It’s really important that you eat plenty of protein to help repair any muscle damage as well as lots of carbohydrates to help build up your glycogen stores. Stay calm – You’ve trained for months and missed out on social events with family and friends to be on that starting line. Freaking out before the day itself won’t help and is just wasted energy. Save that adrenaline for your big day and use it positively. Don’t panic about new aches and pains – it’s normal to feel new aches and pains during the tapering period as your body relaxes and repairs itself. Just let it do its job and try not to panic. Pack carefully – The weather in the UK is unpredictable so make sure that you have a wide array of suitable clothing that includes plenty of waterproofs! Check out the kit list for the event here.   Triradar.com is the online home of Triathlon Plus – the best source of triathlon training advice, triathlon gear reviews and triathlon news. Log your training for free at the TriRadar.com Training Zone. Have every issue delivered to your digital device by getting Triathlon Plus through Apple Newsstand, Google Play or Zinio. Subscribe to the print edition with massive savings at MyFavouriteMagazines. Join the conversation on the Triathlon Plus Facebook page, follow us on Twitter @TriathlonPlus.

As nations go further to field the best team, Steve Trew wonders where it will end Triathlon is a pretty clean sport – at least, that’s what we think. But last year’s revelations about Lance Armstrong and the planned doping programmes in professional cycling have raised serious doubts for all of us – all of us who love our sport. When a top-level sport can hide systematic doping, it couldn’t really get much worse… could it? Sometime soon The athlete lay there in the half dawn, quietly checking their body and awaiting the rigours of the day. With a sigh the athlete stretched out their right arm into the soft rubberised pulsometer that immediately bleeped back 24 beats per minute. Twenty-four? The athlete remembered the early days with their heart rate laughably high at 48bpm. It seemed like a different world back then – perhaps it was a different world back then. It was certainly a different existence. One hand stretched out and pushed the buttons above the dispensing chute. Within seconds a glass of opaque, milky liquid and a bowl with a myriad pills and pellets in an infinite variety of colours appeared. The athlete wondered sometimes what the pills were, but knew better than to ask. Everybody had to take them if they wanted to succeed. Somewhere near When the buzzer sounded, the athlete exited the cell and walked, then jogged, with all the others – all in the same grey, uniform-like tracksuits – and then stood quietly until The Coach (the athlete always thought the word “Coach” with a capital letter) and the assistant coaches appeared, and the athletes went through that same routine that they had done so often before. Regarding the rows of grey-suited lookalikes, the athlete wondered about them – their names, their backgrounds – and whether to dare talk to them. Nobody had ever said not to, but nobody ever talked. It wasn’t important to talk, it was important to succeed! To win! To be the best! But not for the self, of course – for the country. The athlete wondered where that knowledge came from. It had always been there… always. The stretching, the exercising continued, as it did every day. Then it would be swimming – and then the medical checks. Then it would be cycling – and then the medical checks. Then running – and medical checks, again and again. For this was what sport was all about. They stopped to eat. All of them receiving their individual food requirements and the plastic box of their individual pills and pellets and tablets. They accepted them, of course. For this was sport – top-class sport – and this was what top-class sport was all about. Finally the day drew to a close, a close like all the other days. The athlete hated it, yet somehow looked forward to it. Sometimes The Coach and The Doctor spoke to the athlete. And the athlete was able to speak back. Lying there, waiting, the athlete anticipated the important visitors. Did they have a life outside the camp? Did anyone have a life any more, inside or outside? Somehow The visitors entered, carrying the paraphernalia of their trade and their calling. The athlete cowered back. Electrodes were attached, meters strung, drips dripped and wires wired. The athlete lay there accepting it all, as ever. Tiny points pricked tiny agonies of consciousness into the subdued body. Tapes and tubes were attached to the arm, more pills and pellets. And then the syringes started. Finally: “You please us. Your body systems are good. They grow better. You are a credit to us, a credit to our nation.” A shadow of a half-smile crossed the stern, grey face. Almost. The athlete lay there, still. The words echoed. A credit to Our Nation! It was the highest honour – she was only 12 years old and already she was fulfilling some of what the programme had laid out for her. To be the best. To make her country the best. Consequences? There were no consequences. For this was sport – top-class sport – and this was what top-class sport was all about. Triradar.com is the online home of Triat

Oh, to have Jaromir Jagr back with the Rangers. Admittedly for selfish reasons not entirely based upon Jagr’s on-ice performance, though, at 41, he can still contribute. But Jagr is still one of the great interviews in sports. “Ah,” Jagr said, smiling, when the Bruins room was opened this afternoon. “The New York media…You guys missed me.” Yes, Jags, yes we do. Both he and fellow former Ranger Wade Redden were at their stalls Saturday. Redden, who missed Game 1 with an undisclosed injury, said he was ready to play just yet and was day to day. Bruins coach Claude Julien said Redden would be a game-time decision. Redden spoke about his time with Hartford (AHL), his feelings about spending two seasons in the minors because A) he was not performing at the level the Rangers needed and B) the Rangers could hide his $6.5 million annual salary cap hit in the minors - a loophole in the old Collective Bargaining Agreement. The Rangers bought out the final two years of Redden’s six-year, $39 million deal prior to this season under one of their amnesty buyouts allowed in the new CBA. And Jagr, well, he just spoke. And said some funny things. Like when it was all over when I asked him if he still was planning to play one season in the Czech Republic for Kladno after he was done in the NHL, to fulfill a promise he made to his father. Jagr just laughed. “One season?” He said. “I could be scoring in that league when I’m 50.” And he said some serious things. Quotes below… ====================================================== Follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/AGrossRecord Follow the Record Sports Staff at twitter.com/TheRecordSports

Logan Couture scored a power-play goal 1:29 into overtime to help the San Jose Sharks bounce back from two losses in Los Angeles to beat the Kings 2-1 in Game 3 of their second-round series on Saturday night.

A day to forget?via greenedgecyclingStage 14 was anything but normal.The miserable weather knocked out the Sestriere climb and organizers re-routed adding 13 kilometers to the day. Due to the weather, the helicopter was grounded thus unable to broadcast a live feed. RAI did it's best to entertain, by interviewing the fans along the route. Thanks to Twitter I was able to follow the action via Assistant DS Julian Dean of Orica GreenEDGE...Five months into retirement, this was not one of the days where I missed racing. I was very happy to be in the car and sorry for the boys as they suffered in the cold and wet, looking for ways to stay warm.We assisted with clothing changes all day long. The riders were constantly swapping jackets, gloves and whatever else they could to stay as dry as possible in the rain. At one point, we had Chinese laundry going in the car, trying to dry out the guys’ clothing that they had been wearing to give them the option to exchange clothes again later in the stage.As bad as today was, it doesn’t deter professional bike races. The first hour of racing averaged 46 kilometres/hour. Three hours in, and they’re averaging 42.5 kilometres/hour. By this point, the riders had become so cold, they were unable to accomplish basic tasks. They had to drop back to the car so that we could open their PowerBars for them because their hands were no longer functioning properly. God bless electronic shifting on Dura Ace. It’s much easier to push a button than shift a lever.The action was at the end for my feed was back on with cameras along the finish to capture the neon yellow clad Mauro Santambrogio (Vini Fantini) crossing the line just ahead of the Shark to warm up the finish in Bardonecchia. Tomorrow's stage will not finish on top of the Col du Galibier but officially is moved further down at the Marco Pantani memorial. The weather is the deciding factor, and it looks like another epic stage upcoming.Here's the official statement by the race directors.Stage 14, Cervere-Bardonecchia, 181km:1Mauro SANTAMBROGIOITAVIN4:42:552Vincenzo NIBALIITAAST+03Carlos Alberto BETANCUR GOMEZCOLALM+94Samuel SANCHEZ GONZALEZESPEUS+265Rigoberto URAN URANCOLSKY+306Cadel EVANSAUSBMC+33GC after Stage 14:1Vincenzo NIBALIItalyAST57:20:522Cadel EVANSAustraliaBMC+1:263Rigoberto URAN URANColombiaSKY+2:464Mauro SANTAMBROGIOItalyVIN+2:475Michele SCARPONIItalyLAM+3:53Suave DS Gianni Savio on Nibali and Evans.Climbing High,Rafal Majka making a statement.One to watch is 23 year old, Rafal Majka finished 11th and is 7s in front of Betancur in the fight for the young riders competition. The cool story is that the young Pole was invited, in 2011, to the Saxo Bank training camp. Majka dropped Contador on the climbs, impressing Bjarne Riis that he offered him a pro contract on the spot. Of course, Majka signed the contract and the rest is history. I'm sure Riis is smiling!

Via We All Bleed Red on YouTube, as a Wings fan, I sure miss Brad Stuart, and the Sharks defenseman made the highlight reels for the right reasons on Saturday--he delivered a hard but clean hit to Kings forward Justin Williams, who eventually got up and is playing for the Kings right now: Hitting can be clean and devastating without deliveirng nasty injuries or controversy. Who knew?